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In a landmark move, the Curacao government has laid out plans to reform their gambling regulations.
The Curacao Gaming Authority, the island nation's online gambling regulator, has long been notorious in the gambling industry for having a very low barrier of entry and general lack of oversight over its registered operators. This approach, while it has attracted many more operators than would have otherwise been achievable, also pulled in operators with less than legal practices.
This has long been a common point of criticism levelled against Curacao and the way that it issues gambling licenses.
The Curacao Council of Ministers finally seems to want to change that with the passing of a new bill that will introduce sweeping re-regulation across their gambling industry.
This move comes at a crucial time as several other countries around the world, such as the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, and Germany, have all been moving to reform their gambling sectors.
The re-regulation will see the Curacao Gaming Authority rework its oversight of licensed operators that will also account for differences between B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-customer) operators.
Mario Galea, former CEO of the Malta Gaming Authority, has been brought on as a consultant on Curacao's re-regulation. Galea states that licenses for B2C operators will now cost EUR 4,000 with a renewal fee of EUR 12,000 plus EUR 250 per month per website owned by the operator.
The new casino licenses will also set stricter AML (Anti-Money Laundering) standards for its operators, further requiring an on-site commitment of at least 3 key employees permanently stationed in the country. The Curacao Gaming Authorty itself, meanwhile, will also grant itself greater authority, including oversight on overseas operations.
While further details of the re-regulation will be revealed in the future, the CGA will be granting all existing licensed operators a transitional license for 12 months. The license will reportedly have further controls baked in, including a much-appreciated step forward for the quality of Curacao online gaming.
